


Meta: x6325 Alignments

by ChokolatteJedi



Series: x6325 [12]
Category: Chuck (TV), White Collar (TV 2009)
Genre: Alignments, Gen, Meta, Neal Caffrey & Bryce Larkin Are Twins
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-03-27
Updated: 2012-03-27
Packaged: 2021-03-15 14:41:29
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,058
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29065998
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ChokolatteJedi/pseuds/ChokolatteJedi
Summary: Meta about character alignments in my x6325 verse
Series: x6325 [12]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2119584
Kudos: 8





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Since a couple people have asked about Bryce's willingness to engage in Neal and Mozzie's shenanigans, I figured I'd share my thoughts on their alignments ([descriptions from here](http://easydamus.com/alignment.html)).

Generally speaking, these are how I see Peter, Neal, and Mozzie in the show and in most of my fanfics. This reading of Bryce is specific to my x6325-verse, but you might see it crop up in my other stories. It isn't the only way I see him, but it is here.

oOo

**Peter: Lawful Good, "Crusader"**  
"A lawful good character acts as a good person is expected or required to act. He combines a commitment to oppose evil with the discipline to fight relentlessly. He tells the truth, keeps his word, helps those in need, and speaks out against injustice. A lawful good character hates to see the guilty go unpunished."

Over the years with Neal, a little bit of chaos slips into Peter's lawful, but not enough to change his alignment. Maybe 5-10%?

o

**Neal: Chaotic Good, "Rebel"**  
"A chaotic good character acts as his conscience directs him with little regard for what others expect of him. He makes his own way, but he's kind and benevolent. He believes in goodness and right but has little use for laws and regulations. He hates it when people try to intimidate others and tell them what to do. He follows his own moral compass, which, although good, may not agree with that of society."

o

To sum up both Peter and Neal's alignments in one interaction:

_"I work hard. I do my job well. And I don't have a $10 million view of Manhattan that I share with a 22-year-old art student while we sip espresso!"_

_"Why not?"_

_"Why not? Because I'm not supposed to. The amount of work I do equals certain things in the real world."_

I don't think anything could sum up Neal better than "why not?" :) maybe "Allegedly."

oOo

**Mozzie: Chaotic Neutral, "Free Spirit"**  
"A chaotic neutral character follows his whims. He is an individualist first and last. He values his own liberty but doesn't strive to protect others' freedom. He avoids authority, resents restrictions, and challenges traditions. A chaotic neutral character does not intentionally disrupt organizations as part of a campaign of anarchy. To do so, he would have to be motivated either by good (and a desire to liberate others) or evil (and a desire to make those different from himself suffer). A chaotic neutral character may be unpredictable, but his behavior is not totally random. He is not as likely to jump off a bridge as to cross it."

This alignment is what lets Mozzie care for Neal, but also try to selfishly pull him in a direction Neal doesn't necessarily want to go. It is also behind his desire to remain anonymous to The Man, and help criminals that he admires — such as the Vulture and Gordon Taylor — to escape from the FBI. Canonical Mozzie seemingly has no issue with the tainted background of the Nazi loot, and has no problem putting a hit out on Keller.

oOo

**Bryce: True-ish Neutral-ish**  
Bryce began as a Lawful Good, like Peter, however, the CIA trained that out of him to a certain extent. The CIA's ideas of lawful are not always good, and their ideas of good are not always lawful, and they introduce an element of chaos — not in the sense of individualism, because he's still expected to obey orders — but in the sense of good/evil. Is evil done for good reasons still wholly evil and vise versa? Etc. They train their agents to kill, steal, lie, assassinate, etc, and you can't remain Lawful Good in that setting. In this way, he has been warped closest to true neutral, while any given incident or motivation can spike him into lawfulness, chaos, good, and neutrality, and occasionally — if not outright evil, let's call it — badness. In this sense he does not fit the traditional definition of True Neutral — which is more like lack of opinion, studied neutrality, or indecisiveness — but his alignment is more amoeba-like.

He's the kind of person who thinks that doing a bad thing (framing Chuck) for a good reason (saving Chuck) is worth it, and isn't so tied to the law that he doesn't think "well, if they're going to steal anyway, might as well steal from someone bad." He's willing to protect Chuck from the CIA, then literally send them to his doorstep via the Intersect. He places helping and protecting Neal above the law, and though he'll try to convince Mozzie to transition from neutral to good, he'll happily do some bad himself. If nobody "innocent" gets hurt, he doesn't mind the con, and if Peter does something to piss him off — like interrogating an innocent, concussed Neal until dawn — he'll cheerfully play a small part in Mozzie's treasure con just to spite him. He doesn't mind misappropriating CIA or FBI resources on his own behalf or Neal's, and he would happily kill someone like Keller, rather than try to arrest them first, as Peter would. After all, dead men cause no problems, as long as the CIA doesn't bring them back to life.

This is why Bryce has no problem lying to Peter, no problem with Neal/Moz conning/lying to Peter about the treasure, and no problem abusing his power on Neal's behalf, but also wouldn't use his CIA connections to legally get Neal out of jail earlier, or lie that all of Neal's cons were actually CIA things or really himself, and also tries to convince Mozzie to turn over the treasure to the rightful heirs. He hovers in the middle by virtue of bouncing between the other areas too much to be tied down, as his motivations and actions could change day-to-day, moment-to-moment. Other than Neal. Protecting Neal is always a priority.

I hope that helps clear up why Bryce is willing to overlook (and even help) Mozzie absconding with the treasure, despite being a government agent, and abuse his power to help Neal in the FBI, but not to get him out of jail. And why he participates in the con you'll see Neal pull in the next (almost done) installment. (He's also a bit of a self-punishing idiot when it comes to his feelings for Chuck)


	2. Chapter 2

Also, this seems as good a place as any for this, to clarify Bryce's position in the FBI. I took their actual hierarchy and combined it with what we knew from the show.


End file.
